Healthy Crème Brûlée
Two years ago, around the time when I first started this blog, I remember being so excited to get into the kitchen and bake (pretty much the same feeling I get today, but still). I loved the whole food-blogging process: baking, photographing, writing, posting. I loved stealing my sister’s fancy camera to snap some photos, and I remember smiling as I wrote the post. I remember how shocked I was when I realized that people had actually found my blog, and were reading it, surprisingly enough.
Two years ago, just like today, I had a gazillion bookmarks to scroll through on “baking day” to find the perfect recipe to bake. I remember never being able to choose and having to ask everybody else what they wanted — Chocolate Coconut Cake, Mint Chocolate Krispy Treats, or Hummingbird Cake? What, what, what??
People would be like, “Oooo can you make [an extraordinarily difficult dessert to healthify here]?!?!?!” And my smile would go away. Hello people, I’m a total baking newbie, do you seriously think I can pull that off? Especially when it took me seven trials to get my first recipe ever to taste good?
All of that flashes back to me when I see, smell and taste this amazing Crème Brûlée… this secretly healthy Crème Brûlée. I remember everyone begging me to make it and me sadly declining out of fear that I wouldn’t be able to make it.
Crème Brûlée is a classic unhealthy dessert — with the heavy cream, insane amount of egg yolks, pile of sugar, etc. But I did it! It might not be vegan, and it might not be cholesterol-free, but in my eyes and the eyes of everybody who tried it, this Crème Brûlée is the BEST it can get.
This Healthy Creme Brulee is mouth watering, creamy, sweet, rich and oh so sinful tasting. But it’s sinless.
It’s impossible to feel guilty with this on your plate, especially when it’s placed side-by-side with a typical Crème Brûlée. Just look at the ingredient list (and nutrition label below!) — no heavy cream, no refined sugar, and organic eggs.
Oh, and it’s so easy a caveman I could do it. So you can too!
Rub your eyes, pinch yourself, give yourself a slap in the face, whatever it takes to make you realize that you’re not dreaming!
You can have Creme Brulée… completely guilt-free!
Indulge… sinlessly.
Healthy Crème Brûlée
Ingredients
- Plain, Nonfat Greek Yogurt
- Low Fat Cottage Cheese
- Egg Yolks
- Granulated Erythritol
- Vanilla Paste
Instructions
- You can find the full recipe and instructions in the Naughty or Nice Cookbook!
Recipe Notes
Enjoy!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
I’ve just spent ages trying to find healthy recipes to use up a load of egg yolks i’ve got in. I was thinking of making a creme brulee, but all the recipes I found were too unhealthy or had ingredients I didn’t have! You have made my day. I think i’m going to make it for breakfast tomorrow. Yum!
I used to think Monkfruit was the way to go, but erytherol is now associated with heart problems.
OMG, I can not wait to try this!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This sounds and looks delicious! I will try it! Thank you!!!
Are you going to associate every single desert with guilt? Maybe try changing your taste spotting/food gawker description and you won’t seem like you fear food.
I definitely do not associate every dessert with guilt, but a dessert such as creme brûlée is definitely one of those guilty desserts… In my eyes at least, you may think otherwise which is totally fine 🙂
And I do not fear food and I hope nobody ever does fear it. I love food and I am here to share my love of it but in a healthy way. Unhealthy food (particularly sugar and desserts) causes health problems on a daily basis and that is why unhealthy creme brûlée IS a guilty dessert.
Wow. Pretty insane, the difference between the original recipe and this one. I was hoping when I saw this on my Blogger dash that it would be vegan, but sadly it’s not. (BTW, do I remember incorrectly, or were you vegan when your blog was still Chokolawtay?) Is there anything you might suggest to substitute for the egg yolks?
Good for you to tackle something so difficult!! It looks like you were 100% successful. 🙂 Can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
I’ll have to try this when I’m done with final exams haha. Looks incredible!
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I remember discovering your blog when you’d posted your VERY first post! You were so thorough and informative and didn’t seem like a beginner at all. I remember thinking that it was only a matter of time until you became famous in the food blogger world, particularly the healthy desserts niche 😉
Anyway, I must admit that I’m skeptical about how decadent this creme brûlée could taste, but of course that’s only because it looks too good to be true. I’ll have to give it a go and see for myself, I suppose!
Awww thanks so much Irina! I can’t believe you read my first post over two years ago, you are definitely a special reader 🙂 I remember rereading my first post about 74x to make sure it was ABSOLUTELY perfect… I want to get back to that, but I feel like long posts would annoy some people lol.
As for the creme brulee, it’s pretty delicious and decadent. My mother and sister absolutely loved it and they have had PLENTY of creme brulee tasting experience 😉
I’ve gotta tell ya, this was not good. It was very bitter and the stevia left that artificial sweetener taste, maybe I did something wrong, I don’t know. I think some desserts are meant to eat the in the full fat and calorie version.
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Can this be done dairy free? Is the yogurt essential??
Nicole-
I added yogurt to the creme brulee to add a creamy texture and a similar color to what heavy cream would add. I think this can be made dairy free if you use dairy free “yogurt.” I have seen vegan Greek yogurts before, I think they are made with either soy or coconut. Hope this helps!
-Jess
This did not turn out at all. The only sub I made was coconut milk from the carton instead of almond milk–I had already begun the recipe before I realizing I was out. I baked for 35 minutes and let cool for 30, but when I went to put the topping on I realized there was liquid in the bottom of each ramekin; the mixture had separated into what looked like a grainy mush and whey or water.
Oh no! I’m so sorry you had trouble with the recipe. Subbing for coconut milk shouldn’t have affected the end result too much, so I’m not exactly sure what went wrong. There are quite a few things that can result in a failed creme brûlée (I think I’ve done all of them) but here are the two that sound like what could have happened here:
1) Make sure to use an oven thermometer to ensure that the oven is at the correct temperature (I found out my oven sometimes says it’s at a certain temperature when it’s not yet). A too low temperature will not cook the mixture properly, and a too high temperature will curdle the eggs, resulting in a grainy appearance.
2) Did any of the water from the water bath accidentally spill into the ramekins? This happened to me and one of my shallow dished ramekins, and the result was exactly as you described — watery and grainy looking. I know it’s hard to move a heavy baking tray full of water :/
I hope this helps!
-Jess
You can always put the pan of ramekins into oven first, ThEN pour hot water all around into the pan. Much easier.
That’s how Julia and Martha do it. (Lol)
Thanks for the reply with the tips! I did not check the temperature but I do have an oven thermometer so I will check. I may have splashed a bit of water into one of the ramekins when I was topping off the water, but I was pretty sure the others didn’t get any water in them.
Could my water have been too hot and curdled the eggs? It wasn’t boiling, but it was very hot water from my electric kettle.
It’s possible that the water was too hot. I know that my electric kettle boils the crap out of my water and would definitely cook my eggs, but every machine is different. I’ll edit the instructions to say “warm water” instead of “hot water.” Sorry for making confusing instructions *smacks self in head*
Hi! This looks so wonderful 🙂 I have been itching to make creme brûlée ever since i was gifted ramekins and a cooking torch for Christmas (my family gets me). Naturally I’ve been toasting bread and melting more cheese than I care to admit but I’ve been yearning for a healthy creme brûlée like this. I’m wondering if there’s a way to make this lemon or orange scented? Would you recommend adding citrus zest or juice at any particular step? The acid in the juice might be an issue but I’d love any advice to give them a little kick of citrus! Thanks!
Would it be okay if I subbed Stevia extract for the Erythritol? Your recipes are great and I’m doing this one for my dad on father’s day, and I want it to be good. Please reply! Thanks
Im sure it won’t be the same. Stevia when cooked leaves a weird taste. Plus it’s thought yo find plain stevia. Most have erythriritol added.
Really wanted this to taste good, followed it precisely with two exceptions (that should have only made this taste better): I substituted organic whole milk for the almond milk, and used real sugar instead of stevia (Sweetened to my liking, I used 1/3 cup for the entire recipe) and real brown sugar instead of granulated erythritol.
As much as it came out beautifully, it tasted absolutely awful. No different than eating sweetened greek yogurt with some vanilla extract, except more tangy. The texture looks just like regular creme brulee, but tastes nothing like it. It has this awful texture between your teeth (I’ve baked yogurt in another recipe before, and the taste was similar).
I ended up bringing it to work and letting my coworkers have it, and they all thought it was very funny tasting (due to the yogurt). My friend tried the recipe with the exact ingredients you listed (w/stevia and almond milk), and needless to say, it tasted significantly worse than the one I made with real sugar and real milk.
I have been eating creme brulee my whole life (Both making it at home and eating out) and I have never “disliked” any, I’ve only liked certain versions more than others.
In seeking a lower fat alternative, I also tried out the Nestle recipe (http://www.meals.com/recipe/guilt-free-creme-brulee-144316), which actually tastes like creme brulee (albeit a healthier version) and is pretty good.
I appreciate the work in creating this recipe, but I can’t imagine how anyone can find that this tastes anything like creme brulee.
Oh no! I’m sorry you didn’t like the recipe Amy 🙁
For some reason, whenever I made the recipe it turned out just fine (I think I’ve made it 3x so far). It never had a gritty texture between your teeth.
Once I’m back home at sea-level (and can finally bake again!) I’ll give this recipe another go and see how it turns out.
Thanks for the input, appreciate it!
-Jess
Yum!
Hmmm I don’t have Erythritol, was hoping coconut sugar would work until i seen the note on the bottom lol darn. So what if i were to use coconut sugar for the recipe itself and use stevia for the top? (or truvia since we have both)
Thank you:)
-Rolando
Coconut sugar sprinkled on top turns into a liquidy caramel sauce rather than firming up. I literally torched the stuff for 10 minutes and nothing worked. However, you can probably substitute the stevia in the filling with coconut sugar! 3/4 tsp of stevia has the sweetness of ~3/4 cup of coconut sugar 🙂
As for the topping, liquid stevia won’t work… but maybe Truvia will since it’s granulated? I haven’t tried it though. Also, since Truvia is 2x as sweet as sugar, you can reduce the coconut sugar in the filling (maybe ~1/2 cup?).
I hope these substitutions work out for you! 😀
-Jess
Seriously! You go through all that, make people look forward to making it and you don’t even post the recipe? Not nice.
Hey Nancy! In case you didn’t see the bottom of the post, the recipes that were added to my new cookbook, The Naughty or Nice Cookbook, were taken off the blog since they were remade and improved specifically for the book 😀
Don’t worry, I still have 450 or so recipes still available on the blog… for free. I think that’s pretty nice, right?
-Jess
Why can I not see the recipe?
Hey Lauren! In case you didn’t see the bottom of the post, the recipes that were added to my new cookbook, The Naughty or Nice Cookbook, were taken off the blog since they were remade and improved specifically for the book 😀
Best,
-Jess
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